Employees who do not contribute under the Public
Service Pension Plan

The following information is intended to provide you, the Employer, with an understanding of the various types of appointments and special situations where an employee is not eligible to contribute to the Public Service Superannuation Account.

You may want to know…

Part-Time Employees where Assigned Work Week (AWW) is less than 12 Hours per Week

Part-time employees working an average of less than 12 hours per week are not required to contribute. This applies to all part-time employees appointed prior to, on, or after July 4, 1994.

Grandfathered Part-Time Employees on Strength Immediately Prior to July 4, 1994 with Assigned Work Week (AWW) less than 30 Hours per Week

Part-time employees, working an average of less than 30 hours per week, will not become members of the public service pension plan nor will they become Supplementary Death Benefit (SDB) participants.

Please refer to "Grandfathered Employees"

Employees in Receipt of a Stated Annual Salary of less than $900

No employee shall contribute under the public service pension plan if he earns a stated annual salary of less than $900.

Employees Paid by Fees of Office/third party

An employee, whose compensation for the performance of the regular duties of his position or office consists of fees of office, is EXCLUDED from contributing to the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA).

Fees of office:

Consist of a concession granted by the federal government to employees operating various government owned facilities (e.g. harbors, wharfs, etc.) on behalf of the government. The scale of fees is set by the government and is related to the job performed rather than the time taken to perform that job.

COMMENT

Where a person is providing a service or working under the provisions of a contract whose authority is the Government Contract Regulations, this person may or may not be considered as being employed in the public service.

Employees Engaged Locally Outside Canada

A person who is engaged outside Canada for services outside Canada is sometimes classified as a "locally-engaged" employee. Locally-engaged employees work in Canadian-owned or rented office/residential space, report on a day-to-day basis to federal public servants. Locally-engaged employees are specifically excluded from contributing to the public service pension plan on a "current" basis even though they are considered to be federally employed by the Canadian government.

The Treasury Board (TB) has indicated that as long as an individual is not engaged to work only outside Canada, he is not a locally-engaged employee and as such, not excluded from contributing to the PSSA.

If a locally-engaged employee is subsequently transferred to a position inside Canada (either full-time or part-time in Canada), he would become a PSSA plan member provided all other eligibility requirements were met.

Employees Who Work on an "As Required" Basis

Employees who have no assigned hours of work established in advance at the time of hiring and their hours of work vary from week to week. These employees are considered to be "as required" employees and they are not eligible to become plan members.

One example of an "as required" situation would be where employees are hired under the stipulation that they are hired to work "not more than X number of hours per week". These employees would not be eligible to participate in the plan because there are no true assigned hours for the position established at the time of hiring.

Employees who are Age 71 or over

Employees who were age 71 or older on December 31, 1995, contributed under the public service pension plan up to and including March 31, 1996.

Employees who reached age 71 on or after January 1, 1996, ceased to contribute effective January 1 of the year following the year in which they reached age 71.

Employees who reached age 69 on or after January 1, 2003, ceased to contribute effective January 1 of the year following the year in which they reached age 69.

Employees who reached 70 or 71 years of age during the year 2003 ceased to contribute effective January 1, 2004.

As of January 1, 2008, employees who reached age 69 in 2007 or later will now be able to contribute up to January 1 of the year following the year in which they reach age 71. For plan members who reached either age 70 or age 71 in 2007, a decision has not yet been rendered by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) as to how their situation will be treated.

EXAMPLE

  • Date of Birth (DOB) is May 29, 1938
  • Reaches age 71 May 29, 2009
  • Contributed under the public service pension plan up to and including December 31, 2009
  • Current contributions must cease on the appropriate effective date.
  • Where an affected employee (i.e. those over age 71) has completed 35 years of pensionable service and is currently paying contributions at 1% (for indexing), those contributions will also cease.

Employees under Age 18

Prior to September 9, 1993, employees who were under age 18 at the date of appointment were prevented from contributing to the PSSA until the first day of the month following the month in which they turned 18 years of age, providing all other eligibility requirements were met.

As of September 9, 1993, a public service employee may contribute under the public service pension plan prior to having reached age 18. For the purpose of the Act, an employee reaches age 18 on the first of the month following his eighteenth birthday.

EXAMPLE

  • Employee appointed in a full-time indeterminate position on April 13, 1990.
  • Date of birth (DOB) is November 5, 1975.
  • Employee will not become a plan member until September 9, 1993.

COMMENT

An employee appointed to a term of six months or less prior to age 18 can count service rendered before age 18 toward his six months' qualifying service.

Employee Age 65 or Over in Receipt of Canada/Quebec Pension Benefits

From February 1, 1976 to September 8, 1993, an employee employed beyond age 65 was excluded from contributing under the PSSA if he had applied for and was receiving a retirement benefit under the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP).

Effective September 9, 1993, individuals employed beyond age 65 continue to contribute under the public service pension plan regardless of whether or not they are in receipt of CPP or QPP retirement benefits.

Persons in Positions with any Corporation, Commission or Board that has its own Pension Plan

Any employee of a corporation, commission or board added to Schedule I of the Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA) who is subject to the employer's pension plan cannot contribute under the public service pension plan.

Employees who are on LWOP from an outside Employer

Any employee who is on LWOP from an outside employer and who is still subject to the employer's plan cannot contribute under the public service pension plan until he ceases to be subject to the outside pension plan.

Sessional Employees

On June 29, 1984, Bill C54 received Royal Assent and provided pension coverage under the public service pension plan for employees of the House of Commons or Senate who were not previously eligible to contribute. Before June 29, 1984, a sessional employee was not eligible to contribute unless he had been designated.

Sessional employees are now considered full-time employees.

Highlights

Related Links

Your Public Service Pension and Benefits

Your Public Service Pension and Benefits